1. Mis-understanding and delays can bring about conflict in the workplace, particularly when the parties have different interests. Reflecting on the story, what do you think Joseph could have done to manage the conflict between himself and his supervisor, Nicholas, in order to maintain a peaceful and productive work environment. List in priority, and explain two areas that would reduce possible conflict. Your responses must be supported by the reading material in Unit 4.
Managing Conflict
One of the reasons we may need to control conflict is to ensure organisational resources
are not wasted in conflict engagement and instead emphasis is placed on maintaining a
peaceful work environment which is conducive to achieving organisational objectives.
Some of the approaches to managing workplace conflict will now be discussed.
Please read pages 11 to 19 of ACAS’s booklet (2014). You will see that the management
of conflict in the workplace has been categorised as follows:
1. Managing conflict between individuals
2. Managing conflict between groups
While reading the sections of the ACAS booklet, did you notice that some of the topics
we discussed in the earlier units were also mentioned; specifically?
• communication is essential to handling conflict between individuals and groups
• understanding perceptions is integral to managing conflict between employees.
Take a moment to reflect on what we’ve discussed thus far to try and determine
why interpretation of behaviour is important in managing conflict.
52 MGMT2064 Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management – UNIT 4
The bullet points on the previous page are examples of the interrelation/overlap of
some of the topics in this course.
Similar to ACAS, Armstrong (2014, pages 667 to 668) approached handling conflict
at the interpersonal (individual) and group level. Make note of the approaches he
recommends for handling each level of conflict.
Furthermore, some of the approaches to managing conflict are also referred to by
Mullins (2010, pages 101 to 103). Note however, Mullins uses a concept map and
identifies the following five (5) styles of managing conflict:
1. Competition
2. Collaboration
3. Avoidance
4. Accommodation
5. Compromise
Try to identify advantages and disadvantages of each of the aforementioned styles of
managing conflict.
Thus far, this subsection mentions handling conflict between individuals and groups.
In the next section we will briefly focus on resolving conflicts that involve teams.
Armstrong (2014, page 667) specifically looks at the nine (9) steps that can be taken to
resolve conflict between team members.
Next, go to the following video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHJ8ey
bXJdw in which Jennifer Whitt provides some interesting information on conflict
resolution training and How to Manage Team Conflict. Note, from the onset of her
presentation she mentions that managing conflict refers to controlling conflict and
determining situations in which it should be stopped or fuelled.
Kathy Perkins (2010) also offers eight (8) simple, smart strategies for resolving
workplace conflict. She ends her article with this advice: “Take proactive steps to turn
unproductive workplace conflict into positive forward-looking energy.”
If you are aware of or use other styles which were not mentioned thus far, then please
share information regarding these approaches with your peers in the open discussion
forum for unit 4 in the Learning Exchange.
Conflict Resolution Procedure – Third Party Involvement
In addition to the steps previously mentioned for handling conflicts, some organisations’
policies and general legislative guidelines, for instance a Labour Code, can stipulate
the criteria for handling work related disputes or conflicts, through a process of
mediation, conciliation and arbitration. Some of you may be aware that in unionised
environments these steps are usually grouped under the Grievance Procedure and
included in collective bargaining agreements. Read about these areas in ACAS (2014)
pages 20 to 23.
MGMT2064 Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management – UNIT 4 53
Preventing Future Conflict
Thus far we have looked at the causes and signs of conflict as well as the ways in
which conflict can be managed.
As organisational stakeholders another important area we should look at are the ways
we can prevent unhealthy or disruptive conflict from occurring while saving valuable
resources in the organisation. ACAS (2014, p. 24) identifies three (3) points of preemptive action, namely:
1. Establish and implement systems and procedures
2. Develop relationships
3. Work together
Healthy Organisational Conflict
Based on the previous information we can acknowledge that organisational conflict
is unavoidable and in most instances unwelcome. Do you think there are exceptions
or are there times when conflict can be considered healthy and encouraged in the
interest of the organisation? ACAS (2013, p. 5) gives an example of a situation in which
a certain degree of healthy conflict can be a good thing. Also refer to Mullins (2010, p.
98) who points to a recent view that conflict is considered positive, necessary and a
sign of a healthy organisation.
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